We’ve written about Skagen’s ombre watches before and have included them in our various watch roundups. Now, in this article, we’re concentrating solely on what we feel are the best Skagen watches to wear for work and play.
Here’s a bit of background on the brand. Skagen watches have a Danish heritage; the name comes from a seaside town in the northernmost point of that country. Up and running for over 30 years, they’ve become a globally popular watch brand due to their good looks, mechanical smarts and excellent warranty. Their watches encompass the best of Scandinavian design. They’re sleek, modern, made to complement your arm, and easy on the eyes.
Skagen creates limited-edition collabs that utilize their popular Aaren Kulør model. The brand also makes smartwatches, skeleton watches, chronographs and other watch styles. With price points to please every budget, we’ve picked out the best Skagen watches for your viewing pleasure below.
If you’re in the market for an everyday watch, you can’t go wrong with this model from Skagen. Every season, Skagen creates the Aaren Kulør or Aaren watch in more colors that can be found in the rainbow. Why? Because they’re as bright and cheerful looking as their inspiration, the buildings in Copenhagen’s Nyhavn district. The cleanly designed face has a seconds subdial at the 6-hour mark. Shown in black, it also comes in blue, white, green, red, light blue, yellow and pink and so many more colors. This unisex 41mm watch has a silicone band that can be quickly switched out to either any 20mm strap, silicone or otherwise. Owning a few different straps can easily change up the style of this watch.
Skagen frequently teams up with artists and tastemakers to create limited edition watches. This Skagen X Neighborhood Goods watch is their newest collab. Neighborhood Goods is a company that is redeveloping what a department store could be. They frequently showcase indie and up and coming brands with a side of sustainability. This nice-sized 41mm Skagen watch has a snappy green silicone strap and a happy face that greets you every time you look at the large face. Oh yes, that happy face doubles as the seconds subdial. It’s another thin watch, only 9mm thick, which means it’s practically weightless.
Looking for a showstopper for your wrist? The inspiration behind this limited edition collection was the way the sky blooms throughout a 24-hour period. Each watch in the trio was made to reflect how the sun’s rays influence the sky’s coloration from early morning to a brilliantly sunny afternoon, to a moody twilight. This silicone strap watch has a three-hand movement, is 36mm, and is water-resistant to 3ATM. Of the three watches in the collection, two styles are still available.
Buy: Skagen Aaren Ombre Three-Hand Multi-Colored Watch Orange and Pink Hues $93.41Sustainability can be found in every type of object that fills our closet and accessories bin. Watches are, yes, now part of this trend. If you’re looking for a watch that was made to be kind to the environment, this is your watch. This day and date watch is a solar-powered limited edition. The Skagen watch’s housing was created from plant plastic. The company worked with another Danish firm, Kvadrat, who’s known for creating incredible textiles to craft the woven strap. Eco-friendly Kvadrat used recycled bottles as materials for the strap. This meticulously made watch, with its solar-powered battery, has a very tiny carbon footprint. It’s only 8mm thick and is a well-sized 40mm. The face is done in a green matte with ivory accents. The Henriksen three-hand watch also has dual 12 and 24-hour markings. Skagen created only 422 of them, so when they’re gone, they’re really gone.
There are dress watches and there are casual watches. Skagen’s Signatur silicon field watch can be used for both. This crisp looking dial looks smart peeping out of a suit jacket and fits quite nicely with sweatshirts too. The black face with its white marked hours is rimmed in blue ombre. To add visual interest, the seconds subdial is done in two shades of blue. The 42mm watch is framed by a deep blue silicone band.
Buy: Skagen Signatur Silicone Field Watch $57.00The Baltic and North seas meet at Grenen Beach, which can be found at the end of Skagen. This beach gently juts out into the ocean. The beach, the water, the town, all of it combined were the inspiration for this watch. Looking way more luxurious than its price tag, this 37mm watch is very thin, only 8mm, and light. The face is framed by a gold-toned brushed stainless steel case. The dial has dual 24/12 hour markings, a date window and uses a three-hand movement. How dressy is this watch? Well, there are high-level European politicians who’ve been spotted with this watch on their wrist.
Chronographs can assist in measuring distance, wind speed and more. They’re also just plain good looking. Skagen’s Holst chronograph is all stainless steel; from the watch’s case down through the linked band. It’s a sporty sophisticated watch with a refined air. The largish 42mm watch has a black dial with silver markings. For a chronograph it’s thin, it’s only 9mm thick. That translates into a watch that lies flatly against your wrist.
The smartwatch field is becoming a crowded one. Looking at all the offerings, it seems most of them are using the “form follows function” design theory. That’s all well and good, but there’s nothing wrong with a good-looking watch too. Skagen’s been doing smartwatches for a while now, and their third one ticks all the boxes. It has a textured silicon mesh strap, and the size is 42mm. It has an interactive smudge-proof touchscreen (think like a laptop touchscreen), and utilizes Wear OS by Google. Not only can it track your heart rate, but you can also use Google Assistant, upload apps from Google Play, tracks all your activities, utilize GPS, and heck, you can even use it to pay for stuff via Google Pay. You’ll also get smartphone notifications too. The battery will last up to 24 hours on a single charge. It has a 1G memory and an 8G storage. You can also switch out the strap.
Skagen’s Fisk model comes in a variety of colorways. This colorway was inspired by the buoys that dance on the waters around Skagen. This is a great watch to switch into for spring and summer. The enameled rotating ring echoes the color of the dial. Creamy ivory hour and minute markings, which are hi-res lum, add a dash of summer to the watch. The green silicone strap is lightly embossed.
There are times when an everyday watch needs to be a bit formal but also show a touch of sportiness. Skagen’s Melbye watch, done with a sandblasted stainless steel case in black, is just such a watch. The watch features a day and date window, an inner second track, silvery indices and a red-tipped second hand. It’s water-resistant to 5 ATM, and measures 40mm and 6mm wide.
Buy: Skagen Melbye Watch $122.00
